Your Fault
by Whumpy
Summary: Written for TWD kinkmeme prompt:"I want to see Merle react to Daryl's death. Just Merle Dixon, in the zombie world, freaking out in his own destructive and unpleasant way. Bonus points for having the rest of the group involved in some way as well. Super bonus points for Merle and the group blaming each other. Super duper bonus points for Merle blaming himself." Tragic oneshot.


The 'fight to the death' between the Dixon brothers was in progress. The arena lights shone down on the two men and the bloodthirsty crowd was yelling and egging them on.

Merle threw his younger brother to the ground.

"Do you really think this asshole is going to let you go?" Daryl snarled through clenched teeth. Merle had him pinned down on his back in the dirt and now Daryl was fighting back, hands tight around Merle's neck.

"Just follow my lead, little brother." Merle choked out with a raspy voice, Daryl's hands still tight around his throat. "We're getting' outta this. Right..now!"

In one smooth move, Merle hauled Daryl to his feet and the two were suddenly back to back, both crouched slightly in a fighter's stance as the walkers being held by gripping poles were shoved at them by the Governor's henchmen.

They'd fought like this before, but not for quite some time. It seemed that Merle was always getting into bar fights back in the day. Daryl felt compelled to join in and give Merle a hand if he was there and they would end up like this, back to back, moving together and able to take on anyone that came at them from any angle.

Merle jumped forward and hit a walker in the face with his prosthesis and then jumped back and Daryl punched a walker and then shoved it to the side, making the walker's handler almost lose his balance and the walker in the crowd.

Merle and Daryl looked at each other for a second before engaging the walkers again. They both knew that they were royally screwed and that the other one knew it, too. It didn't look like there was any way out of this. Merle kicked a walker away from himself and Daryl hit another one in the face.

Suddenly a shot rang out and a walker next to Daryl gushed blood from a new hole in its head. All hell broke loose. Automatic gunfire erupted and a smoke grenade was thrown into the arena. There was more gunfire and a bullet hit a young woman that Andrea had worked with guarding the walls of Woodbury and she fell onto her back, dead.

The townspeople started screaming and running from the arena as the stadium floodlights were shot out by the intruders and the smoke became thick. The walkers that had been held at the end of grip poles now were free and moved through the smoke and the darkness, moaning and in search of flesh.

The Governor was furious. He pulled his Beretta from his waistband and stalked through the smoke. A walker reached for him and he shot it in the head.

Merle heard Daryl call for him to "c'mon" and he started after his brother through the smoke. Daryl snatched his crossbow from the thug who had taken it from him and who had just fired it at a walker and he and Merle ran for an exit. Daryl was about five feet ahead of Merle when a shot rang out and Daryl cried out in pain and surprise and went down, skidding on his face in the dirt.

Merle whipped around and saw the governor standing about twenty feet from him. His lips were curled up into a sneer and Merle knew that the next bullet about to come out of the governor's gun had his name on it.

As luck would have it, a walker tried to grasp the governor from behind and the governor turned and shot at the walker as it grabbed at him, knocking the tall man over.

Merle didn't wait to see what happened next. He turned back to Daryl who was trying to get to his feet and he grabbed his brother by the arm. He hauled Daryl up and ran as fast as he could, pulling Daryl along with him. He stopped just for a second to reach down and snatch a Glock 23 that had fallen to the ground in the commotion. Merle tucked it into this waistband under his outer shirt so it wouldn't be visible and hurried outside with Daryl.

Once they were outside the arena, Merle pulled Daryl away from the direction the townspeople were heading and stopped behind a dumpster. Daryl leaned heavily on Merle and Merle sat Daryl down with his back to the courtyard wall behind them so he could get a look at his brother's injury. Daryl had been shot in the back near his right shoulder blade and the bullet had exited from Daryl's chest. Blood was flowing from both bullet holes and Merle looked up at his brother's face. Daryl's eyes were half closed and his breathing was raspy. Merle was alarmed at the amount of blood that had soaked into Daryl's worn and ripped shirt. Merle quickly checked the Glock he'd discovered as they'd exited the arena. It was loaded and Merle tucked it into the waistband of his pants.

"C'mon baby brother, we've got to get out of here." Merle said as he snaked Daryl's left arm around his neck and held it with his left hand, and then wrapped the arm with his stump around Daryl's waist as best he could. Daryl groaned and leaned into Merle and Merle had just moved forward two steps when Rick and Maggie stepped out of the shadows.

"I'll take him." Rick said and he pointed an automatic at Merle. "He's coming with us back to the prison."

"He's been shot and he's comin' with me." Merle hissed.

"He doesn't belong with you anymore Merle, he belongs with us, we're his family now And we'll take care of him!" Rick snapped.

"Shuddup an' lets just fuckin' go!" Daryl wheezed.

Rick nodded to Merle.

"Follow me then." Merle said. "I can get us out of here." He lead them to a sheet metal door in the barrier around Woodbury where they could make their escape.

Daryl was barely moving his feet as they tried to hurry along and Merle hauled Daryl through the door and let his brother lean on him as he helped him along.

They moved down the road and then into the woods, taking out the few walkers they encountered along the way.

Daryl's breaths had become rapid and shallow and after about five minutes of walking he stopped bearing any of his own weight and Merle came to a halt. He gently lowered Daryl to the forest floor and cupped his face. "You still with me?"

A weak moan escaped Daryl's bloody lips.

Then Rick was bending over and looking at Daryl. "He doesn't look so good." Rick said quietly and with worry in his voice.

"He'll be fine." Merle said. "Won't cha Darlena?"

Daryl's lips turned up in a faint smile and he whispered. "Shuddup, Merle."

"We're not too far from the car." Rick said. "We need to get Daryl to Hershel as quickly as we can. He can patch him up and he'll be just fine."

Rick helped Merle haul Daryl to his feet and they dragged the half conscious man between them for the last half mile to the car.

Michonne and Glenn both came at Merle when they saw him approaching with Rick and Maggie.

Rick slid out from underneath one of Daryl's arms and told Merle to sit tight with his brother while he handled this.

Merle leaned Daryl against a large fallen log and sat next to him, holding his wounded brother against him. Daryl's breathing would hitch every few breaths and Merle was starting to worry. Had the bullet penetrated a lung?

"_What_ is he doing here?" Glenn snapped, his gun still pointed at Merle.

"Look, we don't have time for this, Daryl's been shot and we need to get him back to..."

"That bastard tried to kill me!" Michonne snarled as she pointed her katana in Merle's direction.

Daryl started coughing and the cough made a wet, rattling noise. Merle's eyes got wide and he hauled Daryl to his feet.

"There's no way hes coming back with us. I won't have it!" Glenn was shouting.

"Daryl needs help and he needs it now!" Merle yelled. "We can figure this out later!" He started moving towards the car holding Daryl tight against him to support him.

The tip of Michonne's katana touched Merle's nose. "You are NOT getting into that car. Do you understand?"

"I'm going with my brother and we need to go _now _or he's gonna die!"

Rick sighed. "He's right. Glenn, Michonne, back off, Daryl needs medical attention immediately."

"Fine, we'll take Daryl and Merle can stay here!" Glenn shouted.

"Mm...Merle?" Daryl asked meekly and Merle turned his gaze to his brother.

"I'm right here." Merle said. "Right here little brother."

Daryl coughed and started to slip down the side of Merle and Merle held him and gently sat him down against a tree. He coughed again and his breath hitched.

"Theres no way that bastard and I are riding in the same vehicle to anywhere!" Michonne sneered.

Daryl's eyes were glassy and his head lolled to the side and then back as he tried to focus his eyes on his brother's face. "Ah can't...ah can't...breathe." Daryl suddenly seemed to become wide awake and he started to panic, clawing at his throat and trying to suck in air.

Merle held Daryl's shoulders as Daryl gurgled and gasped. Daryl grabbed Merle's shirt and fisted his hands in it tightly. The fog had left Daryl's eyes and Merle shrank away from the fear and hurt that now shone so clearly in them. Daryl's eyes were wild with terror and desperation. "Ah..can't." he choked as blood stared running from his nose and from the sides of his mouth. He gasped and choked and released Merle then clutched at his own chest and gagged.

"Daryl!" Merle roared. "Stay with me!"

This wasn't happening, Merle told himself. Daryl couldn't die, not after they had just been reunited.

Daryl's eyes met Merle's matching blue eyes, seeking something, comfort, reassurance, anything to convince him that he wasn't dying right here and right now. He tried to inhale, but there was no air, only blood and it bubbled and burbled as it spilled from his mouth and his nose now, as well as from his bullet wound. Daryl tried to speak and managed a pitiful wet gurgle as he choked on his own blood. He clenched his fists as he coughed and choked, struggling to breathe. His chest hitched once, then twice and then a spasm rocked Daryl's body and he went limp. Merle saw the life leave his brother's eyes. Daryl's head fell forward and blood dripped from the tip of his nose as his chin rested on his still chest.

"Daryl?" Merle shook his brother's shoulder but he got no response. "C'mon Daryl. Wake up."

Glenn, Rick and Maggie were now staring at Merle and Daryl with horrified looks on their faces.

Merle grabbed both of Daryl's shoulders and shook him harder. Daryl's head lolled forward and then back like he a was a rag doll. "Daryl? Stop fuckin' around." Merle yelled.

Michonne lowered her eyes and looked at the ground.

Merle placed two fingers to his brother's neck searching for a pulse. There was no pulse to be found. Merle ran his only hand down Daryl's cheek and pushed the hair out of Daryl's glassy, staring eyes. He shook his head and closed his brother's eyes with his fingers. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry baby brother. Couldn't protect you when you was small as good as ah shoulda and now look. I failed ya again."

Rick bit his lip and approached Merle. "Is …. is he.."

"This is your fault! Your fucking fault!" Merle spit, not turning towards Rick. Merle held his hand against his brother's cheek and ran his thumb over a curved eyebrow. "We had a plan, we were getting outta there together and then you, you! You have to come bustin' in like ya think yer the fuckin' lone ranger and start shootin' the place up! The governor shot him! He shot my little brother, the only family I got, because a what you did! My brother's dead and it's _your fault_!"

"No." Rick shook his head. "No, this was _your_ fault Merle. Daryl wanted to find you. He never would have been caught if he hadn't wanted to see you."

"Bullshit on a stick!" yelled Merle. He pointed to Maggie and then Glenn. "You two! If you assholes had just taken me to see him like I asked you to when I first caught you, this wouldn't have happened! All I wanted to do was to see my brother! Neither of you woulda been touched if you'd just taken me to him! Why the hell did you deny me that? He's my fuckin' _brother_! And now look!" Merle pulled Daryl into his arms and held his limp body close against him. Daryl was warm and the blood that had soaked into his shirt was now soaking into Merle's. Daryl's head rested against Merle's chest and Merle stroked Daryl's hair as he held him. "Look what you did!" he yelled at Glenn and his voice broke. "This is your fault!"

Rick ran his hand through his hair and glanced over at Glenn and Maggie. They both had tears running down their faces as they watched Merle lamenting while hugging and caressing the bloody, lifeless body of his brother.

Rick wasn't sure if it was because they had compassion for Merle or if their tears were all for Daryl who had been a friend of theirs. He decided most of the tears were for Daryl. He was not surprised to realize that his own face was wet with tears for Daryl, too. The man had become a good and trusted friend and he'd always had Rick's back.

Merle held Daryl close as a deep sadness enveloped him. This was an emotion he rarely experienced and he hated it. Watching Daryl struggling to breathe had horrified him and filled him with despair because there wasn't a damned thing he could do to help Daryl. Daryl was his baby brother and he loved him in his odd, Merle way. He always had loved him. He wondered if Daryl had known that. The sadness faded as it was replaced by red hot rage. He was angry at the governor, angry at Daryl for coming into Woodbury with his band of morons and angriest of all at the band of morons, four of which were standing right there.

Revenge. It was their fault that Daryl had died and he would have his revenge. The Nubian Princess was good with a sword but she wasn't bullet proof. Merle pressed his lips against his dead brother's temple before easing him down onto his back. Rick started to approach him. Merle smiled to himself and gave Daryl a wink as he yanked the Glock 23 from his waistband and spun around to face the assholes who, along with himself, had caused the death of his brother.

Merle surprised them all.

He would take them all out and put Daryl to rest before he joined his brother by way of a self inflicted gun shot to the head.


End file.
